States Banned from Using GMO Labels

States that want GMO labels on their food will be unable to pass their own laws requiring them.

Many people in many states have expressed their want of having foods that contain genetically modified organisms labeled as such. However, the House of Representatives voted yesterday to ban states from passing a law requiring these labels, Huffington Post reports. The states that have already passed the GMO label laws—Connecticut, Vermont and Maine— will now be banned from putting the laws into practice.

The House did, however, pass the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, under which companies may voluntarily disclose GMOs in their foods. Those that claim their food is free of GMOs must undergo a certification process with the Department of Agriculture, Huffington Post reports. The passing of this bill also allows the Food and Drug Administration to include GMOs under the “natural” label.

The bill was passed with a 275 to 150 vote.

Supporters, such as bill sponsor Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), said, “The fact is, the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically engineered products is utterly overwhelming. Precisely zero pieces of credible evidence have been presented that foods produced with biotechnology pose any risk to our health and safety,” according to Huffington Post. “Given this fact, it is not the place of government, government at any level, to arbitrarily step in and mandate that one plant product should be labeled based solely on how it was bred, while another identical product is free of government warning labels because the producer chose a different breeding technology.”

Democrats who are against the bill had the following to say:

Even though a counter measure was proposed to mimic the GMO labeling of 64 other countries, it did not earn enough votes for it to pass.

What do you think of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act? Do you think it’s a good alternative or do you think food should have GMO labels?